PENSIONER Fred Eckersley is confident he will be allowed to bring his Thai bride home by February.

Despite his long bureaucratic battle to win permission for her to live in England, he may now decide to go to Bangkok with her instead.

Mr Eckersley, aged 67, from Breightmet, married Sujittra Seetanoi in a Buddhist ceremony in Thailand last July.

He bought 27-year-old Sujittra from her parents for more than £5,000.

The money was paid according to Thai custom to compensate her parents for the cost of bringing her up.

The couple were introduced through a go-between and were married in a civil ceremony within two days.

They were almost immediately forced to spend time thousands of miles apart.

He had to prove he was a widower by getting a copy of his late wife's death certificate from Austria and he also had to prove that he had sufficient funds to support his new bride in Bolton.

Mr Eckersley said: "I now have all the necessary paperwork to register our marriage.

"All it needs now is for me to go to Thailand and complete the formalities with her at the British Embassy."

But in phone calls with his wife, he has discussed the possibility of him settling down in Thailand instead of bringing her to Bolton.

He said: "She would like me to go and live in Bangkok. I will probably go there at the end of January and discuss things with her."

While he has been waiting for all the relevant paperwork to be processed, he has been using the time to do a Web page design and construction skills course at Bolton College.

He is considering an offer of a three-month teaching contract in Kathmandu in Nepal. His bride, who he calls "Apple", could go with him.